Shut-up and bring me my food!

I hate creepy middle-aged men who obnoxiously flirt with young waitresses like they have a chance.

Today, this loud-mouthed jerk, who was sitting between the kitchen and my table, kept trying to chat up the waitress while she was en route with my water, then my food and later the bill.

The guy probably delayed my meal by 30 minutes by grabbing the waitress and asking her a stupid 20 questions while she was trying to bring out my food. Questions like if she'd ever been to Mexico before. He had been.

I was ready to get up and punch the guy out for her, so I could get my food and eat it in peace.

Thanks a lot. Really.

I checked next week's forecast online.

I have an old friend coming in from out of town next week, and I was curious to see if the weather was going to be nice to him during his visit.

Well, there's a high of -4 degrees Celsius and a low of -22 degrees Celsius. That's pretty much the forecast for the whole week.

Basically, it's going to be kind of warm out or kind of cold out. It's good to know the weather could go either way. Though I already knew that before I checked the weather.

That's why meteorologists get paid the big bucks, folks.

Friendship

"The only way to have a friend is to be one." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friendships are a lot of work. It's very easy to get wrapped up in the here and now of your own life and lose touch with a friend.

And it's easy to assume that everyone already has their own life and isn't interested in hanging out with you, but you don't know until you ask.

According to Life's Little Instruction Calendar Volume XI: "The words, 'Would you like to join me for coffee?' can result in one of the greatest romances of all time." I would add to that friendships as well.

Premature

I am not a fan of toilets that flush automatically, mainly because of premature flushing.

If a toilet flushes while you are sitting down, instead of standing up, you end up getting a bidet experience.

Rest in Peace.

Why is it we get so attached to our favourite actors and the characters they play? It's not like we know them personally.

I've been watching the TV show Angel lately.

In typical Joss Whedon style, one of the main characters, Doyle, was killed off unexpectedly.

I was so upset, I almost cried. Whedon builds characters so well. I felt like I lost a friend.

Anyhow, Doyle was played by Glenn Quinn, probably better known for his role on Roseanne. He was Mark, Becky's husband.

Anyhow, like his character in Angel, Quinn killed himself. Except instead of a heroic act to save a group of immigrants, like in Angel, Quinn killed himself by overdosing on heroin at the age of 32.
When I found that out, I was even more depressed.

Whedon, by the way, got his start writing for Roseanne.

A new beginning...

Beginnings are always rough as you struggle to gain familiarity.

I've been doing karate for five or six years now. My intensity and skill have gone up significantly enough that last spring I was invited to train with the provincial team.

I was feeling pretty good about myself, because it was a long sought after dream of mine. Then I showed up at the first team practice and it was a nightmare. I couldn't keep up and I had my butt kicked by all the team veterans.

So finally I decided I was going to get into better shape, to at least keep up.

Cardio fitness and core muscle strength are important parts of karate. So this year, I signed up for aerobic classes and ball stability classes.

I've always said the more I train karate, the more I feel like a beginner. (There are only so many moves in karate, but there is always something new to learn about executing those moves.) But I forgot what it was like to be a real beginner.

On the first day of aerobics, which is basically an intense dance class, I was stumbling all over my feet. And the ball stability class . . . well, at one point, I fell off the ball, dropping my barbells.

When I started karate I was bad, a stumbling idiot. It took me a year and a half to really catch on.

And now, luckily, by the second aerobics class, the steps were a little easier.

Love/Hate

I hate food that has a smell that lingers on your clothes.

I just came back from having Indian Food. It tasted good, but, two hours later, the smell is starting to get to me.

I'll probably have to change my clothes.

Behind these walls...

Neighbouring apartment tenants are always interesting to listen to through the walls. It's not that you want to listen to them. It's just that apartment walls are so thin.

I used to live beside sadomasochists once. That was disturbing. I used to live beside a guy who talked to himself while playing video games, which was also disturbing.

Now I live beside someone who watches Friends around the clock. And my other neighbour has two-day long parties with all of his closest male friends.

What's my contribution to my apartment's noise pollution?

Well, lately, I like to sing James Blunt songs in falsetto, with or without the CD to accompany me. I'm sure my neighbours love me, especially since I can't sing.

On Sex and the City, they would call my singing "secret single behavior," an activity you engage in when no one else is around.

For me, I like to sing, but I'll never let anyone hear me do it. Well, hearing me through the walls is okay, as long as I don't know the people listening.

Living for the weekend...

Why do weeks with stat holidays in them drag?

You get a short work-week. It should go by quickly, but it never does.

Keeping it real.

Someone just e-mailed me these fine words of wisdom:

"People seem normal until you get to know them, so be brief with people."

Quiet Time.

After having to rescue a total stranger from a drug overdose last New Year's Eve, and having a party guest throw up in my washing machine two New Year's Eves ago, I decided it would be best to spend a quiet New Year's at home this year with my family.

I was in bed by 11:59 p.m. and enjoyed the moonlight pouring in from my bedroom window, as well as the sound of fireworks from some distant party down the street. That moment was probably the best New Year's Eve I've ever had.

New Year's Eve Party

I don't get the whole "drinking yourself stupid on New Year's Eve" thing.

Who wants to start the New Year off with a hangover?